This Diwali, Tantri gets into the festive mood and sets his evil and explosive plan to dethrone Raja Hooja in motion. Will he ever succeed? Find out in Tantri the Mantri. In a South Indian folk tale, a foolish king is determined to stop the flow of a river in The King who Stopped the River. Chamataka is again upto no good, this time at a farm! But Kalia the Crow has his sharp eyes on him and a clever trick up his sleeve. Suppandi receives a postcard with a super secret message in Family Matters.
Anant Pai popularly known as Uncle Pai, was an Indian educationalist and creator of Indian comics, in particular the Amar Chitra Katha series in 1967, along with the India Book House publishers, and which retold traditional Indian folk tales, mythological stories, and biographies of historical characters. In 1980, he launched Tinkle, a children's anthology, which was started under Rang Rekha Features, India's first comic and cartoon syndicate, that lasted till 1998, with him as the Managing Director.
Today, Amar Chitra Katha sells about three million comic books a year, in English and more than 20 Indian languages, and has sold about 100 million copies since it inception in 1967 by Anant Pai, and in 2007 was taken over by ACK Media.
Tinkle is something we used to read whenever we travelled in trains. It was a great way to pass time and I love all the regular characters- Suppandi, Nasurudin Hodja, etc. It’s been around 10 years since I remember buying a tinkle (for 30/-). It feels great to read it again now.
I was drawn to this book because of its premise, but the execution left something to be desired. Some of the characters felt one-dimensional, and certain plot points were predictable. However, there were moments of brilliance that made it worth finishing.
Tinkle Digest needs no further introduction, if you have read Tinkle while growing up, your childhood was awesome. The very thought of Supandi dawns a broad smile on my face.